1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seed implanter for use in connection with brachytherapy. The seed implanter has particular utility in connection with simultaneously injecting multiple radioactive seeds into the prostate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The implantation of radioactive seeds into the prostate, or brachytherapy, is an effective treatment for prostate cancer. This is commonly accomplished by loading radioactive seeds into hollow needles and inserting the needles into the prostate. The radioactive seeds are either injected singly, with the physician manually placing each seed in the prostate, or they are injected as a string with two or more seeds spaced apart.
The use of implantation devices for brachytherapy is known in the prior art. Commonly, a hollow needle is loaded and placed over the injection site of a patient. A piston or stylet is then used to push the radiation source into the desired area in the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,345 to Waksman discloses a method and apparatus for delivery of a radiation source to a tumor. However, Waksman""s patent provides only a single catheter for delivery of one radiation source at a time. To provide an array of radiation sources to a tumor, the device must be reloaded and repositioned.
Implantation needles have been used with a grid or template to aid in the accurate placement in the prostate. One example of such a grid is the SeedNut(trademark) that is used for increasing accuracy and control in tumor ablation.
There are no patents disclosing multiple needles that can be triggered simultaneously for the injection of multiple seeds at multiple sites in a solid mass tumor. Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved seed implantation device that can be used for brachytherapy. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the seed implantation device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a rapid and simple means of providing an array of radiation sources to a solid mass tumor.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of devices for brachytherapy now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved seed implantation device, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved seed implantation device and method of use which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features. This results in a seed implantation device that is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a seed implantation apparatus having a seed cartridge along with an array of hollow needles adapted for accepting radioactive seeds with each of said hollow needles having a piston, a plate located behind the pistons, a rod and a mechanical trigger capable of actuating a rod, wherein actuation causes ejection of seeds from the apparatus.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved seed implantation device that has all of the advantages of the prior art mentioned above and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved seed implantation device that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved seed implantation device that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such seed implantation device economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new seed implantation device that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a seed implantation device that consists of multiple needles which can be triggered simultaneously for the injection of multiple seeds at multiple sites in a solid mass tumor, thus providing a rapid and simple means of providing an array of radiation sources to a solid mass tumor. In a specific embodiment the new and improved seed implantation device of the present invention can be used for brachytherapy. This allows the operator to insert multiple seeds in a pattern simultaneously.
Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for implanting radioactive seeds in a patient comprising loading a plurality of radioactive seeds into an apparatus, wherein said apparatus comprises two or more needles wherein said hollow needles are aligned in an array of two or more chambers. Additionally said array is used to guide the hollow needles of the apparatus to a desired location for the injection of a predetermined number of seeds into said patient, wherein all seeds are injected simultaneously.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.